Rogues and Riverboats

by Temple Madison

  “When I was hanging onto the rail, something happened to me. I let go of all the greed I felt. It was strange. I could almost hear the splash as it fell into the water. I would have been right behind it if you hadn’t been there. Being free from it has opened my eyes about so many things. First of all,” she said, turning to him, “my name is Sadie Beal, not Camille Du Peret. I’m from Wyoming. A rundown little town called Thunder Mesa. My ma and pa used to own The Last Chance Relay Station. They’re dead now, and I’m not even sure it’s still there.” She took a deep breath and extended her hands, surrendering. “So, Mr. Pinkerton Detective, I’m yours. Do your worst.”

  “Let’s back up here. You said something back there, something about lo—”

  “I don’t remember anything like that.”

  “Sure you did. You have to—”

  “You must be mistaken.”

  “No. You said it. I want to hear it again.”

  “Beau, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m talking about the word, lo—”

  She looked at him, keeping her gaze on him steady, and said, “You must have been hearing things, Mr. Bannock. You’d better watch that. A Pinkerton man having hallucinations? Very bad.” With that, she turned and walked away.

  Chapter 13

  THE next morning, both Jesse and Beau were in the captain’s office looking down at the jewels that were spread out on his desk. “I’ve been through the list you gave me, and everything seems to be there. The thief’s been caught and is in custody.” Jesse hesitated, raking his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to say, Captain. I’m really sorry this happened on the Twilight.”

  The captain gathered the jewels up, put them back in the bag, and opened the safe to put them in. “Hell, Jesse, if you knew from the beginning that she was on board, why didn’t you tell me? I thought your interest in Ms. Du Peret was romantic.”

  “It was…and it wasn’t.”

  The captain scratched his head. “I don’t understand that.”

  “We let you think that because we couldn’t tell you the truth. Pinkerton’s security would have been breached, and the truth would have ruined everything. I’m sorry, but it had to be that way. I guess I don’t have to tell you that it got kind of complicated.”

  The captain gave them a knowing look. “You mean you became involved.”

  “Exactly. All we want now is to get her off this damned boat without anyone finding out who she is. We had a close call the other night, but I don’t think anything came of it. With the help of the Pinkerton men, you should be able to conduct an organized exit.”

  “It’s too bad we have to do it this way,” the captain said. “If that damned cowboy hadn’t escaped, you could sneak her off the boat with no trouble. He’s proved to be a bigger headache than we had anticipated. I just hope no one gets hurt.”

  “Don’t worry, Captain. We’ll get him.”

  “Look, you two, I don’t know how you do things at Pinkerton, but you really should have come to me from the beginning. I’m required to know who is on the riverboat at all times. Had I known, I could have saved you a lot of trouble, and our passengers from getting their jewels stolen.”

  “We were simply following Pinkerton rules. Hell, we didn’t think she would commit any robberies on the ship. I mean, it’s so confined. There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”

  “The Twilight is a rich ship, Jesse. You should have known that’s why she was here. Among other things, it’s a floating casino. There’s more money drifting on these waters than in most banks.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said, feeling a little stupid. “Well, we’ve got her locked in her cabin now, and later today we’ll be out of your hair.” Jesse extended his hand. “Thank you for your help, Captain. Next time—”

  The captain shook his head. “No next time, Jesse.”

  “You’re barring us from the Twilight?”

  “No, of course not. But next time you two come aboard, leave Pinkerton behind. I have the Black Dispatch here now, so we’re protected at all times.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t aware that the Black Dispatch had made it to the riverboats. Hell, they keep everything such a damned secret, you’d think they’d tell their own men.”

  “I guess they have their reasons. Anyway, the next time you see something suspicious, just report it and let them handle it. The only thing I want you to have on your mind is either gambling or love.”

  Jesse smiled. “You’ve got a deal, Captain.”

  *

  Love. The word made Beau think of what Camille had said the night before.

  I love you, Beau. I love both you and Jesse.

  When he’d pursued it, she’d thrown it back in his face just like he and Jesse had done to her before she escaped. Now he was wondering if she was sincere when she said she loved them, or was it payback time? She’d been hurt, so chances are, she was out to hurt them now.

  Beau was restless. “Hurry, Jesse, we need to go.”

  Jesse looked around. “Okay, Beau, but what’s the rush?”

  “We need to get our things together for the landing later.”

  “Well, he’s right about that,” Jesse said to the captain. “We have some packing to do, and we need to make sure Ms. Du Peret is ready, too.” Both he and Beau headed toward the door when Jesse paused before going through it, and said, “Again, Captain, thanks.”

  While the captain nodded in reply, Beau pulled on Jesse’s arm. “Will you come on?”

  “What in the world is wrong with you all of a sudden?”

  When Beau had gotten Jesse out of earshot of the captain, he said, “Last night on the deck when I was taking Camille to her cabin, we talked about a lot of things. During our conversation, she told me she loved me…I mean, both of us.”

  Jesse smiled. “She did?”

  “Yeah, but when I questioned her about it, she did the same thing to me that we did to her the night before.”

  “You mean she pretended—”

  “Yeah. I don’t think she meant to tell me how she felt. The words just seemed to tumble out of her mouth before she realized it. Since she doesn’t know how we feel about her, I think she did it to cover up.”

  “Or maybe she just wanted to turn our own words against us.”

  “All right, so she got back at us for what we did to her. She’s going through a lot right now, and she deserves to have her revenge. I don’t know about you, but I think we need to let her know just how we feel. We’ll find out then if she loves us or hates us, but we have to be prepared for the worst.”

  “I agree.”

  They hurried back along the deck and through the corridors until they arrived at her room. Unlocking the door, they went in and found her sitting alone with a book. She looked up when she heard them come in, and a harsh, cold look filled her eyes. She quickly threw the book aside and hurried to her bedroom and closed the door.

  Beau rushed to the door and tried it, but it was locked. He gently rapped on it, and said, “Camille, please come out. We’d like to talk to you.”

  “Go away.”

  “Camille, please. Jesse and I, we…well, we have something we want to say.”

  “Send it to me in care of the Natchez jail.”

  “There’s no way to send kisses and…”

  With a jolt the door opened and Camille stood there with tears shining in her eyes. “What did you say?”

  “I said there’s no way to send kisses…”

  “It’s simple,” she whispered. “Xs and Os.”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s not quite good enough.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “I don’t want to send the woman I love—”

  “You said it again.”

  “What did I say?”

  “You said ‘love.’ I heard you, or are you going to deny it?”

  “I said it, and I meant it.”

  A big sm
ile broke out on her face. “Oh, Beau!” She looked toward the shadowy foyer to Jesse. “Come here, you big coward.”

  *

  Jesse rushed to her, and all at once she was surrounded, her world at last filled with them. She felt giddy as she held them close, her heart overflowing in a floodtide of love and emotion. She lifted her hand and caressed each handsome face, never wanting to forget them and the look of love in their eyes.

  At that moment, she felt Beau’s hand reach up and slide her gown off her shoulders. Beneath their hungry gazes she could feel the pink tips of each breast harden into crested peaks, and felt the heat of the shifting light as it rippled across her breasts.

  She stood naked before them.

  They closed in about her, her breasts crushing against their rippling chests, skin against skin, heat against heat, and desire against desire. She gasped when they began lovingly massaging her breasts that sent burning darts of pleasure rippling through her.

  She felt herself being lifted in strong arms, and then felt the bed give with their weight. She gasped as Jesse’s tongue danced in and out of her ear, causing her to buck and moan. She lay in the drowsy warmth of their bodies, exulting in pleasure while Beau’s lips climbed the softness of her breasts and nibbled on her nipples. He then made a moist trail down her body until she felt him hungrily licking the soft, rounded curve of her abdomen.

  From there, he kissed his way down her thighs until he reached her feet. Handling them with the utmost care and gentleness, he took them in his hands and cradled them as he kissed each toe and then licked her instep, driving her into a spasm of lust. She felt herself melting between them as their fingers burned into her tingling skin. At long last, she felt Jesse’s hands reach between her legs and squeeze. Her hips writhed against his hand, feeling her sensitive cunt throbbing with want.

  Her thoughts flooded back to the night she met them—to the soap bubbles, and the turbulence of their passion. That night they awoke the dormant sensuality of her body, and she never wanted to lose it. She wanted to stay where her senses were spun into glorious surrender. All at once, she gasped in sweet agony when Jesse’s fingers at last penetrated her. Shivers of delight followed his touch until his cock finally invaded her. She abandoned herself to the sensation that whirled wildly within her. A thrill jerked her body, arcing through her again and again as he pushed himself inside, deeper and deeper, until the tumult of her passion was almost too much to bear. It whirled around her, to rage and flame, as he pushed in and out, in and out.

  At last, when their bodies began to move in exquisite harmony, this turbulence reached the ultimate, unable to be contained. It took only one more cool brush of his hands down the soft lines of her back to send her into a shatter so complete that his name burst from her mouth.

  “Oh, Jesse! Oh, God, Jesse! Oh, God!”

  *

  Gently, Jesse moved away, and Beau mounted her while his cock dripped its spicy semen. His craving was new and hot as his hands moved over her, reawakening the flames that had been quenched. With his own unsated desire filling him, Beau covered her lips with his, his tongue reaching into her velvety mouth and pulling her out of her drowsy state and bringing her with him into a new realm of desire. As he handled her, she became hotter and hotter until at last her thighs opened, and her hips pushed forward with a blatant invitation to penetrate her again.

  “Beau,” she whimpered, “do it! Oh, God, do it, Beau!”

  Feeling unusually naughty, he ran his thumb up and down her palm as he held them extended outward, and then he began to slip his hands down her arms ever so gently. His hands searched for pleasure points as his tongue made a path down her ribs to her stomach. Her body became an instrument he played with such passion she trembled as he slid his hand across her silken belly.

  He could feel that she was open to him, and he reached down and pressed his cock against her cunt. Her legs reached around him, and she clung while he pushed hard, in and out, lifting her with him as he sat up and leaned back against the rail at the foot of the bed.

  “Dance, Camille. Fuck me hard, and don’t stop until you empty me out. I want to come inside you like never before.”

  *

  Camille felt herself get hot all over again. She ground her hips, feeling his rock-hard cock as it filled her time and again, going in and out of her. Every dance she did led her to more, always more, until they both cried out their relief, one and then the other, the sound echoing around the room where ménage paintings hung, showing men and women engaged in the lascivious practice of fucking in every position imaginable.

  She lay exhausted in their arms, waiting until the moment they could love each other again, maybe forever.

  Chapter 14

  DRESSED in black, two Pinkerton men had two tables set up on each side of the exit next to the gangplank. They made a big production of looking through carpetbags and luggage of all sizes and shapes even though they knew Lady Chablis had been captured. Their problem now was the cowboy. They knew he would try to slip through them, so they had to be extra careful, and keep their eyes open.

  Beau got in one line, while Jesse and Camille got in the other. “Don’t worry,” Jesse said, whispering to Camille. “He’ll probably just wave you through. When he does, don’t ask any questions, just go.”

  Camille nodded, her insides trembling.

  When she walked up with Jesse by her side, the Pinkerton man gave her a hard stare and stopped her. She could tell that he knew who she was, and said nothing when he took her bags and began looking through them.

  “Why is he stopping me,” Camille whispered to Jesse. “He knows I don’t have the jewels, doesn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Something’s not right here. Just act like nothing’s wrong, so you can get through. I’ll see what the hell is going on.”

  She stood nervous and scared until she saw him close her bags and give them back to her begrudgingly. She quickly grabbed them and walked down the gangplank breathing easy until she looked back and saw that Jesse seemed to be having a problem.

  “Where are they?” the Pinkerton man said. “She didn’t have them. Do you?”

  The first thing was the voice. “Otis?” Jesse asked, looking closely at him.

  The man glared at Jesse, his words being chewed by clenched teeth. “Where are they? Where are the jewels?”

  *

  “They’re safe, don’t worry,” Jesse said as his sharp eyes saw beyond the Pinkerton man’s bushy mustache and wire-rimmed glasses to a pair of eyes that looked familiar. Where the hell was Otis? This was his station, but Jesse knew this wasn’t Otis. He looked around at the other Pinkerton men, thinking he’d been given a different detail, but not one of them was Otis.

  Jesse was feeling uncomfortable while the Pinkerton man searched his bags but decided to bide his time and say nothing.

  Finally, the man looked up at him with a question in his eyes. “Where the hell are they?”

  “They’re there, trust me.”

  “I want those jewels.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got them.”

  “I’ll take them. Just hand them over.”

  “Otis, she’s my prisoner. Mine and Beau’s. You know how it goes. You give me a receipt to show the local sheriff. He’ll take possession of the jewels, lock her up, and give me a voucher I can cash at the bank.” He was silent a moment, and then said, “Otis, you’ve been through this before. Why are you acting so strange?”

  “The rules have changed.”

  “Yeah? Since when?” He noticed how uncomfortable the Pinkerton man was getting, and then it came to him. Underneath all that hair was the cowboy that had tried to throw Camille over the rail. He’d tried blackmailing her, and when that didn’t work, he tried to kill her. Masquerading as a Pinkerton man was his latest scam.

  “Where’s Otis,” Jesse asked, his voice low and threatening, “and what are you doing out of the hoosegow?”

  Without answering, the c
owboy pulled his gun, held it in one hand while he felt around in Jesse’s bag with the other. “Tell me where they are, or I’ll kill everyone on this boat.”

  “They’re under the false bottom,” Jesse said. “In a bag with a rolled up outfit and hat.” His attention was taken by someone hurrying up the gangplank among all those that were getting off. He breathed easy when he saw his brother’s blond head getting closer. He let him get closer still before he said, “My brother’s in back of you with a gun.”

  The cowboy gave a derisive chuckle. “That old trick? Forget it, Bannock.”

  “Well, I tried.”

  “That’s better,” the cowboy said as he threw clothes everywhere, looking for the jewels. When he found the bag, he gave a quick look into it and saw the glitter of the jewels and the rolled up suit. Satisfied, he pulled the string, closed the bag, and put it in his pocket.

  “Now get the hell out of here,” he said, shoving Jesse’s bag back at him.

  Just then the cowboy stiffened when he felt a gun barrel sticking in his back. “What the hell is this?”

  “Hello, again,” Beau said as he grabbed the cowboy’s gun. “We do meet in the strangest places.”

  The other Pinkerton man quickly ran over, stripped the cowboy of the jewels, and took him into custody.

  “Thanks, Jake,” Jesse said. “We’ve looked everywhere for him. I never thought he might be masquerading as one of us.”

  The captain walked up just in time to see the cowboy being led off to jail. Lifting the megaphone, he turned to the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve found our thief, and it’s being taken care of by our capable Pinkerton men. You’re free to leave the Twilight without having your bags checked.”

  “Captain,” Camille said, “shame on you. You’re leading the people to believe the cowboy was the thief.”

  “I just wanted to spare you a little embarrassment. You don’t mind, do you?”