by JR Roberts
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The others who’d ridden with the cart were sharing one of the campfires in the distance but might as well have been miles away. Although the air was a bit colder in the darkness Clint was sharing with Andrea, that became less of a problem once she’d crawled on top of him. The chill night air bit into his bare skin when Andrea unbuttoned Clint’s shirt and tugged down his jeans. She stood up and peeled off her own jeans before pulling open her shirt and lowering herself back down. Any cold that might have bothered Clint in those moments was washed away when she took his hard cock deep inside of her.
“So,” Clint said in the calmest voice he could manage. “This is one of those gangs that takes advantage of their prisoners?”
Settling on top of him, Andrea shifted her hips and placed her hands flat upon Clint’s chest. “Do you want me to stop?” she asked.
“Not at all. I was thinking more along the lines of you untying these ropes so I could fully return the favor.”
She smiled and started rocking back and forth. “Nice try, Mr. Adams.”
“Nice,” Clint sighed as he savored the weight of her on top of him and the warm dampness of her pussy gliding along his rigid shaft. “Very nice indeed.”
Andrea found a rhythm where she ground her hips against his and moved her entire body at a steady, urgent pace. Every time she took him all the way inside of her, she dug her fingernails into Clint’s flesh a little harder. There wasn’t much he could do since he was tied up so tightly. At least, that’s what Andrea must have thought.
When Clint pumped up into her the first time, she let out a surprised groan. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled down at him as if she was suddenly afraid of drawing attention from the nearby camp. Her focus narrowed down to a single point, however, once Clint began driving into her again and again.
He strained against his ropes, wanting to grab hold of her with both hands. The longer he was denied, the more he wanted to clench his arms around her and hold her within his grasp while finishing the job she’d started. Judging by the hunger in Andrea’s eyes and the sound of her throaty grunts, she wouldn’t have minded that one bit. But she wasn’t about to set him free. In fact, she seemed to enjoy having him at her mercy for the moment.
“You like that?” she purred.
Clint gritted his teeth.
“You like fucking me, don’t you?” she grunted into his ear.
Andrea’s body writhed on top of him, her slick pussy lips gripping his cock and sliding all the way down to its base. Once there, she moved her hips in a slow circle while digging her fingers through his hair and grabbing his head in her hands. She stared into his eyes and when his gaze drifted down, she arched her back and allowed him to bury his face between her breasts.
At first, Clint kissed her naked skin. Once the salty taste of her sweat mingled with the flavor of Andrea’s skin, he kissed her harder and nipped at her flesh. She laughed quietly and held him closer. Her hips were now pumping in time to Clint’s upward thrusts.
Andrea’s nipples grew hard in Clint’s mouth and when he gently bit them, he could feel her entire body respond. Her muscles tensed and her legs clenched around him even tighter. Once again moving his mouth to the track of skin between her breasts, Clint licked all the way up to her neck which caused Andrea to sit upright astride him. Rather than stay in one spot for too long, she leaned back and supported her weight on both hands.
Now that she was in a similar position as Clint, Andrea spread her legs open wide and moved her hips in a steady, pulsing beat. Both she and Clint stared straight across at each other, their bodies moving in time to a rhythm that flowed naturally through them. All he had to do was look down and Clint could see his thick erection driving between her glistening lips. Soon, Andrea reached down to rub her pussy, her fingers quickly centering on the little pink nub of her clit.
Her fingers moved faster as Clint pumped harder. Before long, Andrea kept her body mostly still so she could enjoy the pleasure that was surging through her. Clint enjoyed watching her approach her climax but was quickly distracted by what was building up inside of his own body.
Andrea’s face took on a primal expression. She slid her fingers down so she could not only feel herself but could also feel the spot where Clint impaled her. He slid in one more time, eased out and then pounded all the way into her. Andrea might have cried out as she climaxed but she didn’t have enough breath to make a sound. Instead, she sat up straight and arched her back, giving Clint a perfect view of her bare breasts and pert nipples.
When her orgasm subsided, her entire body trembled in a way that Clint could feel all the way down to his toes. That was enough to push him over the edge and soon he exploded inside of her.
Andrea leaned forward again, much like a drooping plant that covered his body with hers. Keeping him inside of her, she writhed slowly and placed her mouth close to Clint’s ear.
“You see?” she whispered. “We fit awfully well together.”
“That is a good point,” he admitted. “And one I can’t exactly argue with.”
“You think about what I offered.” Andrea stood up and slowly pulled her clothes back on. Leaving her shirt mostly unbuttoned and her jeans slung low on her hips, she said, “I’ll just give you some time to think it over.”
“And what happens if I refuse your generous offer?” Clint asked. “No more nightly visits like this one?”
“That’s right. Also, there’s a real good chance that you’ll be cut into several pieces before being scattered beneath the next tree we decide to use as a landmark.”
Despite the threat that was made and the knowledge that it could be carried out against him, Clint had a tough time being upset with Andrea’s words. He was still reeling from being inside her and savoring the sight of her walking away.
Chapter Forty
Clint was glad to be left alone at first. As the minutes ticked away, however, he started to wonder if he was foolish for being optimistic in the first place. Before he could lose hope, he heard the scrape of cautious footsteps approaching him from the shadows nearby.
“Psst! Hey, Adams. You awake?”
“No, Jarred,” Clint replied. “I was just so comfortable here against this rock that I dozed off for a spell.”
“Well if you like, I can come back some other time.”
“Get over here, damn you.”
Hall crawled on his belly so that most of his body was covered by some dry brush on the outermost edge of the little clearing. He reached out to grab Clint’s bound wrists with one hand and start sawing at the rope using the knife he held in his other hand. “Whoever these guys are waiting for,” he said while working, “isn’t anywhere close to this camp. I’ve been tracking you since you were dragged out of that cathouse in camp and—”
“You’ve been tracking me the entire time?” Clint snapped.
“Yeah. Isn’t that why you wanted to ride along with me? I’m a damn good tracker.”
“I was hoping you would’ve done something before I was taken out of camp.”
“And I was hoping you wouldn’t have gotten knocked cold,” Hall said. “Seems like we don’t always get what we want.”
“You were also supposed to keep an eye on Don,” Clint reminded him. “Where might that one be?”
Not only had Hall stopped talking but he’d stopped cutting as well. For a moment, Clint wondered if the bounty hunter had slithered off somewhere else. Eventually, a voice drifted through the air that was barely loud enough to be heard.
“He’s dead,” Hall said.
“What?”
“Don’s dead. He didn’t make it out of the cathouse. One of the girls said he was shot dead by the fella you were looking after. Sven.”
“His name’s Farraday,” Clint said.
The next sounds Clint heard were the scraping of Hall’s arms and legs against the ground as he crawled around to look into Clint’s eyes when he asked, “Are you joking?”
“N
ope.”
“How the hell do you know that? Did he tell you?”
“I figured it out.”
“How?” Hall asked.
“Will you just get back to work?”
“Keep your voice down, you fool. There are armed men nearby and they’re looking over here. I don’t think they saw me but it doesn’t help matters if you draw attention to yourself.”
Clint looked toward the camp. One of the fires was still being tended but the other had died down to nothing but a pile of flickering embers. The only people he could make out distinctly were the Chinese man with the long hair and the larger fellow who had the face that resembled a long stretch of rough road. Everyone else was either in the shadows or sleeping in their bedrolls. The Chinese man was on his feet patrolling the area closest to the dying fire. He looked over to Clint and stared him down from a distance. At that moment, Clint swore he could see that man’s hands tightening around the rifle he held.
“See what you did?” Hall whispered. “That one’s gonna come over here.”
“What I did?” Clint hissed under his breath. “You’re the one who came over here.”
“Would you rather I left you?”
“Of course not. Just keep still.”
Hall did as he was told, keeping his chest and belly flat against the ground. His head was resting on its side, making him look like an Indian listening for footfalls in an open stretch of desert. Although the Chinese guard seemed intrigued by something he’d spotted in Clint’s vicinity, he didn’t seem to have spotted anything worth making the trip all the way over to check on him.
“He doesn’t see you,” Clint said quietly while giving the distant guard an upward nod.
“And why would he bother checking on you?” Hall said from his spot on the ground. “If the rest of the camp chose to ignore you while you and the lady were—”
“I hope you were doing something more than hanging back and watching me with Andrea,” Clint scolded. “I thought it went without saying that I figured if one of us got captured that the other would come after him. That’s what a partnership is.”
“No need to tell me, Adams. I was scouting the camp and looking for any reinforcements that might have been on the way. I was also waiting for a good chance to get in close and free you. If you weren’t so intent on keeping that traitorous whore so close, I might have been able to do something a little sooner. Then again, it doesn’t seem like they’re too concerned with watching you.”
Clint sighed. “They’re giving me time to think about joining up with them.”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“What’s your decision on that?” Hall asked.
“Do I even need to dignify that with a response?”
“Nah. I do have a better question for you, though.”
“What is it?”
“How’d you know about Sven?”
Grudgingly, Clint admitted, “I didn’t. Not right away. Even when I woke up from taking that knock to the head, I thought Don was the man I was after since he was the last one I saw. But Sven was the one who was in that cart with me when I came to and he didn’t have a scratch on him.”
“Doesn’t prove anything,” Hall said.
“Whenever those men came along to check our ropes or pull us out of that cart, they seemed to handle Sven like a piece of fine china while knocking me around without a care in the world.”
“I can’t really blame them for that.”
Ignoring the bounty hunter’s snide comments, Clint continued sifting through his thoughts. “But it wasn’t until he started questioning me about how I might match up against Howlett. He tried to pass it off like he was concerned, but he was more curious about figuring out my strategy or, more importantly, any weakness I might be worried about.”
“That does seem strange,” Hall said.
“I know it’s not conclusive but none of it sat right with me. He just seemed a bit too anxious to get me to talk when a man in his position should have been more concerned with just getting the hell out of there.” In the end, Clint had to admit, “A lot of it boiled down to gut instinct though.”
“It usually does. So, you eventually got him to say who he was?”
“Not as such,” Clint replied. “He admitted to trying to pull the wool over my eyes and digging for information. As for him being Farraday . . .”
“Let me guess. Another hunch?”
“They’ve served me well this far.”
Once again working on the ropes, Hall said, “You’ve got more hunches than a camel.”
“Humps.”
“What?”
“Camels have humps, not hunches. Actually,” Clint quickly added, “I don’t give a damn about camels. Just keep cutting.”
Chapter Forty-One
“All right,” Hall said when his blade severed the rope binding Clint’s wrists. “You’re free. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Not yet.”
“Why not? Them others are either asleep, tending to the fire or talking among themselves.”
Clint squinted at the largest cluster of figures in the distance. There was half a dozen of them all huddled near the cart. “That’s definitely Farraday,” Clint said.
“So what if it is?”
“The other men acted differently around him. Even Andrea seemed to treat him differently somehow and she prides herself on being the one to give orders instead of taking them.”
“That don’t answer my question, Adams.”
“You said it yourself. Nobody else is coming. It just makes sense that a small group of revolutionaries would have to keep moving rather than stay in one spot where they could be picked off. That way, they can spread all the savagery and fear they want while most everyone thinks they’re a bunch of demons in the night.”
“Revolutionaries?”
“That’s what they fancy themselves to be, anyhow,” Clint told him. “I was given a sales pitch to try and get me to sign on with them. This bunch supposedly wants to take New Mexico for themselves.”
Sheathing his knife, Hall reached for a spare Smith & Wesson pistol that was tucked under his gun belt at the small of his back. “That’s insane.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“If that’s what you think, then you’ve lost your damn mind and I don’t intend on being dragged down with you.”
Clint turned to face him while rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing through them once more. “Think about it! From everything we’ve heard, this group is basically a collection of outlaws and killers looking to make some fast money and raise some hell. The only ones with their sights set any higher than that are probably the three at the center of it all.”
“You think that’s all this outfit is? Three folks corralling a bunch of gun hands?”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Hall said, “it would take a lot more than that to take over an entire state.”
“Most likely, that’s just the goods they’re trying to sell to anyone who’ll listen. Odds are a lot better that they’ve just got some sort of scheme cooked up to extort money from land owners, run the law out of a couple of counties or just make themselves look like the devil himself so folks will be too scared to stand against them when they come around to rob them.”
Chuckling, Hall said, “Oh, is that all?”
“If there was a larger group to worry about, I’d be more concerned with whatever their plan might be,” Clint explained. “But I honestly think this is the heart of the operation right here.”
The bounty hunter was still on his belly to avoid being spotted from afar. “So you think all of what we’ve seen and heard about just comes from some of these men here in this camp?”
“What we’ve seen may be terrible but it’s not something that would take an army to accomplish. It’s basically just a bunch of little fires that were set across a wide area that have spread into something bigger.”
“I suppose that could
be.”
“If there was more of an organization at work, there would have to be a structure of some kind. This is all a bunch of smoke, blood and big talk.”
“Those trees are a lot more than just smoke.”
“They’re just trees, Jarred. Trees and bodies. If either of us traded away our souls, we could make plenty of those same trees ourselves.”
Hall shuddered at that prospect.
Suddenly, Clint snapped his fingers. “Think of these men as weeds.”
“Huh?”
“When you see a weed, it’s this huge tangled mess of snarled leaves, stems and whatnot that forms a thick—”
“I’ve seen weeds, Adams, get to the point. Some of those gunmen by that fire are taking an interest in you.”
Clint took a quick look in that direction to find that some of the men there were indeed watching him a bit closer. They weren’t rushing over with guns blazing, which meant they must not have spotted Hall just yet. Even so, it was only a matter of time before that situation changed.
“My point is that the mess on top doesn’t matter when it comes to a weed. All that does matter is the root and more often than not, those roots are awfully small. The trick is just finding them and cutting them at the source.”
One of the men from the campfire shouted something at him but Clint ignored the other man’s words.
“Are you proposing that we clear out the weeds from this here garden?” Hall asked.
“It’s either that or sit around and wait for them to do what they like with us.”
“Ain’t no us, Adams. Far as they know, I’m not even here.”
“So you’d rather skin out of here and let these mad dogs kill however many more just to spread fear and make a few more dollars?” Clint asked.
“Hey!” the man near the fire shouted. “What’s going on over there? Is someone with you?”
Both Clint and Hall kept their heads down. “After the insanity these men have caused,” Clint said, “they’ve got to be fairly well known in these parts.”
“That’s usually the point,” Hall said.
“And there’s bound to be someone willing to pay a healthy sum to anyone who puts an end to them.”
