“Mmm,” she moaned. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” Leaning down to kiss her shoulder blade, he continued. “You have the perfect ass for spanking,” he said, cupping both cheeks in one large hand, “and I have a feeling you’ll give me plenty of reasons to do so.”
“That’s not an attribute,” she informed him, nearly purring.
“Depends on how you look at it.” Chuckling, he moved to her thighs and worked the muscles there. “On one hand, you’re anything but compliant. You have some very foolish and dangerous notions. On the other hand, I’m convinced that with proper guidance and correction you’ll make the perfect wife.”
“Mmm, maybe someday,” she murmured, wiggling in delight.
“Someday?” he asked curiously.
“When I conclude my business, I’ll think about it,” she said, arching her body into his hand. “Oh, this is lovely. I could go right to sleep,” she sighed.
“I don’t think so.” Jasper coiled the string of beads in the small of her back and poured oil on them, gently rolling them around until they were well coated. “Bottom up now sweetheart,” he instructed, sliding his hand under her tummy and lifting. Clem protested with a groan until his hand moved lower and cupped her. Pushing her shoulders down with his upper hand, he moved her languid body into the position he required.
“Perfect,” he said with approval.
Clem snorted softly as he patted her bottom.
“A moment ago you were listing my flaws,” she sniffed.
“Funny, I can’t think of any now,” he said grinning. He sought out and found her clit easily; delighted to feel it was protruding and slippery. Another long finger lay nestled between her bottom cheeks. They both began to move at once, one circling her clit, the other circling her anus.
“What the…” Clem cried.
“Shh, just relax, sweetheart,” he encouraged, his voice soothing her. Patience, patience, patience, he chanted in his mind. Her inexperience and youth gave him the advantage. She didn’t know society deemed she wasn’t supposed to like this. It was something he particularly enjoyed and he wouldn’t mess it up.
The hand cupping her mons stayed busy, slowly stroking her until he felt her bottom hole unclench as she sighed. He made his move quickly, and was in to his second knuckle before she could resist. Suddenly, Jasper was very thankful he’d already found release earlier or he was convinced her would have spent all over her side as her warm, tight bottom convulsed around his finger, gripping fiercely. He watched the muscles in her thighs quiver, much like a filly waiting to be mounted. She threw her head back, her long, drawn out ‘ah…’ mingling with his groan of satisfaction.
“Easy baby,” he murmured as he began to ease his well-oiled finger in and out of her.
“Are you trying to drive me mad?” she demanded breathlessly.
“Yes, my darling. Completely and irrevocably mad,” he whispered as he gently pinched her clit. She was rocking back against his finger, driving him deeper, yet anxious to keep his other hand where she needed it. Turning her head, she looked at him. Her brown eyes were darker, a staggering combination of fear, wonder and lust.
“Trust me?” he whispered, his heart in his throat.
Clem paused, then nodded and he nearly collapsed in relief. Withdrawing his finger, he picked up the beads. It was a long strand with maybe twenty or more beads in graduated sizes. He wouldn’t use them all, at least not tonight. Starting with the smallest bead, he rolled it in his hand and pressed it gently to her ass until it popped inside. Her eyes stayed locked on his, an instant of surprise registering in her gaze before she smiled.
One by one he inserted them, watching her closely, his fingers still teasing her button. At number six, she fidgeted, a moan escaping, but she didn’t ask him to stop. By the tenth bead, she was panting and beginning to struggle to accept them and at twelve he decided she’d had enough. Her entire body was coated with a sheen of perspiration and the sounds from deep in her throat had a ring of pain.
“All right my lovely good girl,” he murmured, leaving the rest of the beads to dangle down her thigh. “Now you shall see what it’s like from behind.” Moving behind her he pressed her chest further into the mattress and grasped her hips. “Don’t move, darling,” he insisted. “Let me handle this.” Ignoring her moan of protest, he carefully positioned his cock at her entrance and eased slowly inside. She didn’t stay still of course and he realized he may have overdone it when he could barely get inside. Clem was much too full of beads to accept his cock the way he wanted her too. Quickly he grasped the string and pulled the three largest ones out, causing her to squeal in protest.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he apologized. “You’re not yet ready to be so full. Forgive me,” he pleaded, sliding his hand around her to pet her lovingly. “This is better.” Sinking into her fully, he savored the feeling of incredible warmth. He could feel the anal intruders pushing against his cock and almost came from the sight of her lovely ass. It was still red from his earlier folly, but oh so exquisite and he doubted he’d ever forget the image she presented, her pussy full of his cock, as well as the beads dangling sweetly from the ass presented so submissively before him. It was much too alluring for him to stay still for long and he began to fuck her, slowly and deeply.
“Are you all right?” he asked hoarsely, arching over her and nipping her neck.
“Are you insane?” she cried out, arching her ass higher.
“If I’m not, I will be in a few minutes,” he grunted, moving faster. His fingers, tormenting her clit also increased in both speed and pressure. Soon she was keening, pushing against him as her hands clutched the sheets.
“Please, Jasper, please,” she begged. “Wherever this is heading, I need it now,” she screamed.
He’d never been so happy to oblige. Slowing, he took hold of the string and popped out a bead. Clem howled, her pussy and ass, clutching him tighter as though they were sorry to feel it go. He was actually amazed at his own coordination when his body was screaming for release like a wild animal.
“Jasper, for God’s sake, have mercy,” she sobbed, beginning to shake uncontrollably.
Feeling much the same way, he began to answer her plea. His cock pistoned in and out of her like a machine, his fingers circled her clit, a whirling dervish of pleasure and he grasped the string in his hand. As soon as he felt the first strong contraction, he began to tug, slowly, sending her into spasms that made it difficult for him to remain fully seated as each one popped out. She was still quaking when he tugged the last one free and he let himself go, pounding into her. When his own moment came, she cried out again, clamping onto his cock, her hips moving even as he held deep within her spraying her womb with his seed.
Neither spoke for a long time. He simply rolled off her and pulled her into his arms. Their bodies cooled, she snuggled closer, and he pulled a cover over them.
“Jasper,” she finally whispered, stroking his rough cheek.
“Yes.”
“Do you think I could have those beads?” she asked sweetly. “I could probably make a lot of extra money with them.” His growl as he turned on her and glared into her eyes had her laughing.
“Please don’t make me choke you tonight,” he pleaded, wrapping his hands lightly around her throat. “I don’t have the energy.”
“I’m teasing,” she giggled. “I don’t want them, but don’t get rid of them,” she said, leaning closer to kiss him.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured her. “They’ll have to be cleaned and boiled, but they’ll be here when you want them, my darling.”
“What else do you have in the armoire?” she asked curiously.
“Many wondrous things from all over the world. Marry me and I’ll show them all to you,” he sighed on a sleepy yawn.
Clem didn’t answer. In moments he was snoring softly.
“I almost wish I could”, she whispered before she cuddled closer, put her head on his chest and fell asleep.
/>
***
Breakfast was an uncomfortable affair. It struck Clementine odd that two people who’d been so incredibly intimate the night before could barely string together a few sentences this morning. She tried several times to make small talk and was rewarded with unintelligible grunts and monosyllable answers.
It was possible Jasper was not a morning person, but she didn’t really believe that. He seemed to be in some sort of retrospective mood, or he was angry at her for some reason. It wasn’t until she mentioned her visit to Adam Barlow that he showed any interest in anything she had to say.
“You went to see Adam?” he asked, setting his coffee down.
“Yes.”
“What did he have to say?”
“Not much,” she hedged, taking a bite of egg.
“Clem, are you playing games with me?” he demanded scowling.
“Why would I do that?” she sweetly replied, dabbing her mouth and rising. “I’m simply trying to follow your lead as a guest in your house. Apparently you aren’t interested in much conversation this morning. Now if you wouldn’t mind taking me back to town, I’ll remove my offensive presence.”
Jasper sighed. “I’m sorry if I appear rude. I have a lot on my mind. Please take your seat and tell me what Adam had to offer.”
“No,” she snapped, gripping the back of her chair.
Jasper rose to tower over her and removed the chair from her hands, positioning it closer to his at the head of the table. “Sit,” he ordered, “while you still can.”
Clem considered her options. While she wouldn’t mind marching out of his house in a huff, it was a long walk back to town and she wasn’t exactly dressed for it. There was also the chance he would sit and take her over her knee. She didn’t have much interest in that either. She sat, grudgingly.
“Thank you,” he said with a slight bow before resuming his seat. “Now what did Adam advise?”
“That’s confidential,” she informed him.
“Then why did you bring it up?” he demanded, losing his patience at a rapid rate.
“I was simply trying to make polite conversation with a socially inept baboon,” she replied, picking up her cup and taking a sip.
“Clementine,” he growled.
“Oh all right,” she hissed. “Lord, you’re so bossy. Adam was going to make inquiries to the sheriff. He’s also going to get a statement from the undertaker proving my father was murdered.”
“Anything else?”
“I paid him the two hundred dollars I made from you and he’s going to go to San Francisco and see what he can find out from the Bureau of Land Management. We need to make sure my father actually filed a claim.”
“Is that all?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
“No, that is not all,” she snapped. “He found it quite amusing that I’d refused to marry you if you must know.”
“I’m not surprised,” Jasper answered frowning. “Clementine, do you need more money?”
“No, well I won’t after you pay me for last night.”
Jasper snorted. “It’s you who should pay me,” he shot back. “After all, it was you who did the begging,” he reminded her.
“I just wish I could charge extra for that,” she hissed, rising so fast her chair fell backward. “How kind of you to remind me of my shortcomings. Please add it to my list of flaws.”
“It’s not a flaw,” he said sadly. “I’ll get the carriage and take you back.”
***
The ride was made in silence until they approached the outskirts of town and Clem reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. She could feel the tension in his muscles; see it in the stern set of his lips.
“I lied to you last night, Jasper,” she admitted quietly. “It is personal and emotional with me. I didn’t want it to be, I still don’t, but it is.”
“Then marry me, Clem. Let Adam and the law handle this. Sheriff Justice is a good man.”
“I can’t. You don’t know what it was like. I’ll never forget the shocked expression on my father’s face when that bullet took his life. He wasn’t a bad man, Jasper. Sure he made mistakes and he drank too much, but he was a good father. I owe it to him to find his killer.”
“We’ll find him, honey. I’ll help you, but you don’t have to do it this way.”
“I wrapped his head in a burlap sack,” she whispered, “so I wouldn’t have to look at him as I struggled for nearly an hour to get his body over my horse. I knew the killer was still watching me, felt his eyes on me. The only way I got through it was to whisper over and over in my head, ‘you’ll pay; I’ll make you pay’. And I will, no matter what it costs me.”
“Even me?” he asked, finally turning to look at her. “Will he pay even if the cost is that dear?”
“You’re done with me?” she questioned, looking away.
“I don’t know, Clem,” he replied truthfully, running a hand through his hair. “I love you, but I don’t know if watching you take men to your room will kill those feelings. It will be slow torture for me, knowing they are touching you, watching them come downstairs with a satisfied smile on their faces as they tuck in their shirts. I don’t think I can do it.”
“I wish it was about the money,” she told him, wiping away a tear. “I’d take yours in a heartbeat, but it’s about so much more. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror each day.”
“And you can do that being a whore?” he demanded, letting his anger show for the first time.
“Easier than I can knowing I let my father’s killer get away with murder,” she said truthfully. “I can wash away the touch of a man. I can go to church and pray for forgiveness for my sins. I can’t wash away those memories or my vow, Jasper. I hope you can understand.”
Jasper pulled up in front of The Red Petticoat Saloon and set the brake. Turning to her he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently.
“I’ll stand it for as long as I can.”
Clem nodded and got out of the carriage on her own. It was over. She knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Jasper Montgomery was not the kind of man who could overlook something like this. He was strong, but not that strong. His possessive nature would strangle any feelings he had for her as surely as weeds left untended overtook a flower bed.
Chapter Eleven
And so it began, the steady influx of men requesting Crystal. As the word spread more and more unfamiliar faces appeared among the usual crowd at The Red Petticoat Saloon. Miners, cowboys, farmhands, even a gunslinger or two. Some stayed to drink or play cards and many took a second gem upstairs as the evening wore on, crowing about their prowess and appetites. Others had pie and coffee in the dining room and disappeared. She was paid in gold, cash and even fresh produce. One man came to the back door with a crate of live chickens.
Sometimes there was a line at the bar waiting for her, but there was never an argument, as though the men managed to prioritize their needs on their own. Letters to ailing folks seemed to come first, proposals second and missives to sweethearts next. She taught reading and writing, basic arithmetic and to those who already had those skills, penmanship. There was great interest in weights and measures as many men wanted to make sure they had a good understanding of that and didn’t get taken at the assayer’s office.
Crystal advised several of her customers to pay a visit to Adam about legal matters but she wasn’t above writing out a Last Will and Testament if it contained simple instructions and last wishes. After several weeks, she learned who really needed schooling and who was coming out of loneliness and the need for female companionship.
Nearly all the men were courteous and respectful. They would have cleaned the clocks of any man caught treating her crudely if she should mention otherwise. Gerald, an engineer with one of the bigger mining companies came to discuss literature and philosophy. He often read poems to her, asking her opinion of the writers’ meaning.
Jasper was in the saloon nearly every night, playing cards or
nursing a drink in solitude. Ever watchful, he noted her appearance each time she brought a man back down the stairs. There was never a hair out of place, never a ripped bodice and she was always smiling. Most times she gave the man a kiss on the cheek or he kissed her hand.
“How long are you going to put up with this?” Jewel asked one night, taking a seat at his table.
“I don’t know,” he replied, watching Clem blush as a young man kissed her hand. “She looks well, doesn’t she,” he remarked absently. “There’s a certain glow about her.”
“She should be happy,” Jewel smiled. “She’s making money hand over fist.”
“What do you suppose she’s doing up there?” he asked. “What type of service inspires such devotion, such loyalty?”
“I’m sure I have no idea,” Jewel said shaking her head. “There is something I’m worried about though. The only reason I’m mentioning it is you were in here the afternoon she came looking for a job.”
“What is it?”
“Sheriff Justice tells me there have been some inquiries regarding what happened to Clyde McKay’s young son.”
“From whom?” Jasper asked, suddenly concerned.
“Strangers, no one he was familiar with. I find that odd.”
“So do I. It’s been weeks, why now?”
“I have no idea, but I know Crystal is fairly close with you. Perhaps you could mention it to her. I like her, we all do, but she’s very closed mouthed, if you know what I mean. We really don’t know all that much about her and she keeps it that way. I have to wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
“How she always looks as fresh as a daisy no matter how many men she takes upstairs,” Jewel said thoughtfully. “It’s not natural. Most men are in a hurry. Dresses get torn at times, hair get mussed, makeup smeared, yet she never has so much as a run in her stocking.”
Crystal's Calamity (The Red Petticoat Saloon) Page 10
