by Maggie Ryan
He grinned and his plan shifted yet again at this revelation. “Were you a naughty girl, Onyx?” When she didn’t answer, he lowered his tone. “Answer me. Were you a naughty girl?”
“Ye… yes.”
“And Mr. Gabe paddled your little bottom?”
“No… I mean… he didn’t use a paddle… he-he always uses his belt.”
He felt his cock jerk at both the image that bloomed in his mind and the soft, submissive tone of her voice. A picture of his handprint blooming on Onyx’s plump cheeks had his cock lifting further.
“Show me.”
“What…”
She might have a tendency to talk too much but she responded very well to orders. “You heard me. Show me your bottom. Do it now or I shall strip you and give you a spanking far harder than Gabe did.” He watched her chest heave with her quickening breaths and softened his tone. “And then, I’m going to sink so deep into you and fuck you until you are begging to come… again and again.”
“Oh…”
“Turn around, face the wall and pull up your skirts.” He watched as she obeyed, her dress lifting slowly but steadily to her waist. The red lace of her petticoat fell to either side of her white bloomers, framing what promised to be quite the erotic picture. “Good girl. Now, drop those drawers and show me that naughty ass.”
His cock threatened to erupt as her bottom was revealed. Though it wasn’t red, it was pink and he could see a few welts. When her head begin to turn, he said, “No. Look at the wall while I look at your behind.” Once she had turned away, he dropped the nightgown onto the floor and turned to the dresser. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he spread it out on top of the dresser. To cover the sound of the coins being moved, he raised his voice.
“You didn’t tell me why you got a whipping.”
“I-I didn’t obey Madam Jewel. I was supposed to introduce you before we… um… bathed.”
He turned his head to look back at her. “Isn’t it your job to fuc… entertain men? As long as you are putting money into her pockets why would she care who you are with?”
“It isn’t like that here,” Onyx said. “Miss Jewel and Mr. Gabe… they really care for us…”
“Yeah, your ass shows how much he cares. Was the greedy bastard not pleased with the coin you’ve earned? Was he not pleased with your performance when he fucked you?”
He was surprised when she whirled around, her eyes flashing. “He’s not like that! Mr. Gabe doesn’t treat us like… whores. He never touches the gems…”
“Not with his hand perhaps, but your butt begs to differ.”
She dropped her skirts. “Only because I deserved to be punished. We all know the rules and accept the consequences when we’ve broken them. I have never felt like anyone gave a damn about me until they took me in. Mr. Gabe is a good man… but you should know that… if you were really his friend.” Her eyes moved from him to her gown he’d dropped to the floor and then up again, to the pile of money.
“You... weren’t waiting for me. You were stealing from me.” Her eyes widened. “It was you… you hurt Slim…”
Onyx bolted for the door, crying out as the bloomers around her ankles caused her to trip and fall. He was on her before she could regain her feet. “No! Let me go!” she screamed.
“Shut up!” He stepped back and pulled his gun. “Get up!”
“Please… you can have the money, just don’t hurt me!”
“I said shut the fuck up. Get up or I’ll shoot you where you lay.” She pushed herself to her feet, her eyes so wide she looked like a startled deer. “On the bed.”
“No… please…”
His hand whipped out and her head snapped back as he slapped her. “I’m not going to tell you again. Shut up and get your ass on that bed. Now!”
Tears streaming, her cheek painted with his handprint, she stumbled to the bed, her boots tangled in the white silk. “For God’s sake, take off those damn drawers.” Once she had stepped out of them, he used the gun to motion for her to climb up on the bed. “Make a move and you’re dead,” he warned, keeping the gun trained on her while he returned to the dresser. Pulling out a handful of stockings, he barked his next order. “Lie down and put your hands on the rails and spread your legs.”
“Manny… you don’t have to do this… You don’t have to tie me up… I-I’ll do whatever you want…”
“God, you don’t know when to shut up do you? Of course you will and you’ll do it now or I’ll do far more than stripe your ass.”
She moved to lay down, her arms rising above her head to grip the rails. Grabbing her left leg, he pulled it towards the edge of the mattress, looping a stocking around her ankle and then the footboard. “It didn’t have to be this way,” he mumbled as he moved to the other side of the bed, grabbing her right leg. “You should have just stayed downstairs.”
With her legs secured, he went to the head of the bed. She was crying, her tears sliding down into her hairline, her bosom heaving with her fright. He had to pull her hands apart from where they were clasped about some sort of decorative tassel. She gasped at the stretch required when he yanked her arm to the edge of the headboard.
“Manny how can you do this? Mr. Gabe is your friend…”
He chuckled as he made sure the knots were tight around her wrist. “God, you can’t even get that right. My name is Juan.” He moved around the bed for the final time and grabbed her left arm.
“Juan? Then why did you tell me to call you Manny?”
Tying off the last knot, he squatted down beside the bed and traced the path of a tear on her glistening cheek. “Does it matter?”
“I’d think so.”
Juan turned, his position hampering him, his gun on the other side of the bed where he’d laid it down in order to tie her hand. Standing, he shifted his plan yet again. “What the fuck are you doing here? Can’t you see that we’re busy?”
“Step away from her.”
“Gabe?”
“Stay out!” Gabe snapped, his gun not wavering at the sound of a woman’s voice behind him.
“Look,” Juan said, lifting his hands. “I didn’t know there was some rule about doing a little role play…”
“There is when you’ve assumed the role of another man. A man who used to be my friend, my partner. A man you murdered.”
Juan had conned a lot of men, had bested many and murdered a few. But he’d never once seen the look he saw in this man’s eyes. “Why would you care? He didn’t care about you. He swindled you…”
“And paid for that choice with his life and for what? Money?”
“Money? Don’t you mean gold… evidently a lot of gold… otherwise why all the security at your mine. Mendez was a fool. He sold his part of what he thought was an empty hole in the ground and now it’s worth God only knows what.”
“Turn around and put your hands on the wall,” Gabe said.
Instead, Juan dove across Onyx’s body, rolling off the other side of the bed, his gun back in his hand. “Don’t think I won’t shoot her,” he said. “Throw your gun down and back away.”
“No one hurts my family,” Gabe said and pulled the trigger.
Onyx’s scream ripped through the air as Juan’s body fell onto her.
The room began to fill with people. Gabe moved the body off her and between him and Moses, the stockings were untied and Jewel gathered her into her arms.
“Shh, it’s all right. You’re fine… shh, honey…”
Onyx continued to sob, her body shaking so hard that Jewel’s frame shook as well. Gabe gently pulled her away, lifting her in his arms and moving towards the door. “I’m taking her downstairs,” he said, not waiting for any response. He used the back stairs and ignored the two miners in the tubs, left the bathing room and didn’t pause until he was in the kitchen.
“Is she all right?” Nettie asked, her hands free of the spoon as she wrung them together.
“She will be,” Gabe said, taking a seat and cradling the gem on
his lap. “Shh, Onyx, I’ve got you.”
While Nettie busied herself making a cup of tea, adding a generous dollop of whiskey, Onyx gradually calmed. “He… he was… was go… going to kil…kill me,” she stuttered. “You… you sav… saved me. You… you said I… I was fam… family.”
“You are,” Gabe said, giving her a hug. “You’ve been family since the day you walked into our home.”
“Here, child, drink this,” Nettie said, “it will help.”
Gabe cupped his hand around Onyx’s, guiding it to her lips, not caring when the hot liquid sloshed over the rim and onto his fingers. She swallowed and then gasped, coughing hard.
“Oops, maybe too much whiskey?” Nettie asked.
Gabe chuckled and shook his head. “No, I think she’s fine,” he said, Onyx’s quick recovery and even quicker draining of the cup’s contents proving his words true.
“I could use a cup too,” Jewel said, moving to kneel before Gabe. “I was so scared,” she whispered, laying her cheek against his arm.
“I know, querida,” Gabe said, releasing one arm around Onyx in order to drape it across Jewel, pulling her a little closer.
Jeb entered the kitchen followed by Moses who immediately went to gather Nettie to him. Gabe smiled when she allowed him a cuddle and then ordered him to let her help her baby. Once everyone had cups of tea and whiskey, Jeb spoke quietly. “Slade is upstairs. Charlie went for Thurgood.” Gabe nodded, understanding that whoever the man was, his body was being removed by the town’s undertaker.
John’s entry had everyone pausing as he wearily sank into a chair.
“Everything all right?” Gabe asked. At John’s nod, Gabe asked, smiling as he watched Opal fix a plate and bring it to John before taking a chair next to him. “You eat and listen then you can fill us in.”
John nodded and Jeb picked up the conversation. “Can you tell us what happened, Onyx?”
Onyx sat up and then blushed as if only now realizing she was on Mr. Gabe’s lap. “You can let me go,” she said softly and then bent to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, having her leave his lap and Jewel settle onto it. “Go ahead, honey.”
The group listened as she ran through the events. “I-I really thought Manny was your friend, Mr. Gabe. He knew so much about you.”
“You were meant to,” Gabe said. “When you mentioned his name, I knew he wanted everyone to think he was Manuel Mendez, but I knew he couldn’t be. Paul Adam told me that my friend had been murdered… In fact, not long after he sold his half of the Corazon de Oro. I suppose this man heard about Culpepper Cove and decided to come see if he could jump the claim or steal the gold. That’s why I sent John up to the mine.”
“And you were right,” John offered, pausing in eating his dinner. “Tey said there’s not a squirrel left within miles of the mine. Seems Scamp spent his time circling every tree and barking constantly for the past several days. Tey spotted the man but since he didn’t make any move towards attacking, he just kept his eye on him and let Scamp drive him from place to place.”
“But he might have shot Deputy Tey. He… he hurt Slim,” Onyx said. “He was going to shoot me.”
“No,” Gabe said, shaking his head. “He said that, but he wouldn’t have.”
“How do you know that?” Jewel asked.
“Because he hadn’t already killed her when he had the chance. Instead, he tied her up.” Gabe explained.
“Still, that was a risky move,” Jeb said. “Thank God it was the right one.”
“Yes, and I will be thanking God everyday,” Gabe said. Reaching over, he laid his hand over Onyx’s. “I’m not saying he wasn’t a bad man, but I think that beneath that, he really cared about you. If I had any doubts, I never would have risked your life.”
When Onyx began to cry softly, Jewel slipped off his lap and she and Nettie led her from the room. Despite her obvious joy at being reunited with John, Opal stood as well and after dropping a kiss on John’s cheek, followed the other women. Gabe knew they’d not only make sure Onyx was all right, but every single gem in the saloon would drop in and offer comfort and an ear until Onyx came to accept that what had happened was not her fault, that she would be fine and that she had a family who loved her.
Jeb sat forward. “Onyx will never know exactly how lucky she is. His name is Juan Diego.” He gave Gabe a hard look. “You’re lucky you were right. I’m not sure I would have made that call. Diego’s wanted for murder in several states.”
Gabe nodded. “Like I said, he hesitated and I took the shot.”
“I’ll still sleep better when the rest of your crew gets here. I need Tey back full time.”
“You’ll have him,” Gabe promised, standing as the sheriff did. “And, from what I’ve heard, you’re going to be needing all the sleep you can get soon enough.”
Jeb laughed and the two men shook hands. Gabe walked through the saloon, assuring people that the excitement was over and that everyone was fine. The fact that the miners asked about Miss Onyx and to relay their happiness that she hadn’t been injured told Gabe what it had told Juan—The Red Petticoat was unlike any other saloon.
By the time he and Moses were locking up, he was joined by Jewel. “Is she all right?”
“She will be,” Jewel said. “She’s with Amy tonight and I won’t be surprised if the other gems insist on taking a turn mothering her for a while. But our Onyx is a survivor. She’ll get through this.”
“I know she will.” Gabe slid his arm around her waist as they walked through the darkened rooms. “Now, how about letting me do a bit of comforting as well?”
“I’d like that, Mr. Vasquez. I’d like that very much.”
Chapter 19
Jewel clung to him, refusing to let go even when he whispered that everything was all right. She just wanted to touch him, to hold him, to know that he was unhurt. He was always worried about her safety and yet did he even know how much she worried about his? She had Charlie, Moses, Jeb, Crawford and others to watch over her and her gems… Gabe had himself.
“Querida, I’m supposed to be comforting you,” he whispered in her ear, before capturing the lobe and giving it a nibble.
“You are,” she murmured against his chest, her slight shudder having his arms tighten around her even more.
She loved the fact that instead of rushing her or becoming impatient to take care of the erection she could feel pressing against her tummy, he simply remained standing, allowing her to find the comfort he’d sought to give her. The only part of him that moved was his head, his tongue traveling from spot to spot, licking lightly over rapidly pebbling skin. His warm breath wafted over the wetness as his lips kissed and his teeth nibbled. Her nipples grew into hard little diamonds and her quim began to fill with her cream. Arching her head back, she offered her throat to his mouth and shuddered when he suckled her skin, knowing it would leave a mark… loving the fact that it was his mark. When she feared she might actually climax from his kisses, she finally stepped back.
“I love you, Gabriel Vasquez.”
“I love almost everything about you too, Juliette Gardner.” She smiled and was lifting herself onto her tiptoes to kiss him when his words penetrated fully.
“What do you mean, almost everything?”
Gabe grinned and moved back a step, his hands lifting to her cheeks. “I love your eyes, your hair, your skin and your incredibly sexy mouth.” His words were accompanied by a kiss to each of those spots. “I love your neck, your little ears, your shoulders.” More kisses followed. “I love and adore your perfect breasts.” This time his mouth trailed over the swells of her breasts, giving each several kisses, his thumbs strumming across her nipples that despite the bodice of her gown, were easily found with her arousal. “I love every single inch of you that I’m going to be kissing, licking, nipping, tasting when this beautiful dress is on the floor.”
She’d almost forgotten she’d asked for an explanation as he gazed at h
er, his eyes pulling at her heart, the look in the chocolate depths claiming her soul. Her blood quickened when he began to kneel, her heart racing knowing that she’d soon be naked, feeling his lips, tongue and teeth on every inch of her flesh as he lifted her foot to remove her boots, her stockings, her drawers… and yet, his hands weren’t reaching for her clothing. They held hers and though he was no longer standing, he wasn’t truly kneeling… only one knee touched the floor.
“The only thing I don’t love about you is your name,” he said, his smile a bit crooked as he evidently saw the confusion on her face. “I want you to change it.”
“Change it… to what?”
“To Juliette Vasquez. Make my dream come true and say you’ll marry me, Jewel.”
Jewel was stunned. She’d never even thought about marriage. She didn’t need a ring to belong to this man… she’d been his since the day they’d met and her love had only grown stronger with every moment they spent together.
“You already own my heart,” she said. “I gave it to you the first time you held me.”
“As I gave you mine,” Gabe said. “Now, let me give you my name. Let’s spend the rest of our days together as man and wife.”
Suddenly she wanted nothing more. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she dropped to both knees before him.
“Yes, oh, God, yes.”
Gabe’s mouth claimed hers, their kiss sealing their vows as well as words they’d exchanged before Reverend Black and God would. Clothes were slowly removed as they undressed each other, both bending, kissing, licking and nipping until they were naked. Gabe pressed her down to the floor, her skin warmed by the thick, soft fur of the bear skin rug that had mysteriously appeared one day.
She shuddered as Gabe fulfilled his promise, beginning at her feet, kissing every inch until he reached the top of her thigh. “Please…” she begged, opening her legs only to have him give her throbbing sex a single kiss before his mouth traveled down her other leg. With a grin, he drew her big toe into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing as he suckled.
