by Abbie Adams
"What do you mean?"
"With whom?"
"What bet?"
The questions were shot off rapidly, the last coming from Gabe who now stood just inside the office door.
Delaney groaned as she lifted her hands and buried her face in them. "I made a stupid bet with the marshal over a card game. He-he won." She wasn't sure how her heart continued to beat. She wasn't even sure she was still breathing.
"What did he win, Diamond?" Gabe's voice was gravelly.
"Me." Her reply was so weak she wasn't sure it had been audible and so she said it again, "He won me."
The silence in the room was so heavy, Delaney had to lift her face again to see what was going on. Everyone seemed shocked, the silence painful, until Dottie burst out laughing.
"Good heavens. I'll take your place, sugar. I hope you let him win?" She brushed a hand across Delaney's back as she left her seat and went for the door. "I have to get back to work."
"I'm assuming that you knew exactly what you had agreed to and weren't tricked in anyway?" She didn't have to look up at Gabe as he made his way over to Jewel's side while he spoke to her.
"Yes, sir. It was stupid. I don't know what I was thinking, but I-I thought I'd win like Jewel did that time to win the mine and…and I agreed. So… he said to ask… um… I don't want him in my… I need to know which room to use… um, upstairs." She traced the edge of lace at the seam of her skirt. She was sure her face was at least as pink as her petticoat but possibly as red as Dottie's before she left the room. It was so hot she briefly wondered if she might actually be ill. Hey, that might be a good excuse!
"Look at me, Diamond." Gabe waited for her to obey, then went on, "You understood what you agreed to and there was no trickery?"
She finally met his stare. "Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir. I mean, yes, I knew but no, the game was fair."
He nodded. "Then you are on your own. As they say, you made your bed… now you will have to sleep in it." He pursed his lips, nodded again and left the office.
Delaney looked to Jewel when she finally spoke. "Well, the room at the end of the hall is empty. You can use that one. Diamond, have you ever…" Her words trailed off.
With a great sigh, she answered, knowing exactly what the woman was trying to ask, "No."
"But you know what it entails?"
Delaney swallowed hard. As much as it embarrassed her, she had heard enough from the other gems while at the Red Petticoat to have a pretty good idea exactly what would happen. She nodded when she couldn't remember how to talk again.
"The marshal is a good man. You have nothing to worry about; I'm sure. Wait, does he know that you are innocent? Perhaps if he knew…" Jewel stood, fresh resolve apparent in her eyes.
"No, Jewel. I knew what I was doing. I'm a woman of my word."
"Still, honey, perhaps…"
"Would you have reneged, Miss Jewel? I mean, if you had lost that night?"
Jewel shook her head. "No, but I wasn't a virgin, Delaney. And while I believe that you think you know what will happen, I assure you that thinking is nothing like knowing… If you'll just let Gabe speak to him…"
"No! As you said, I'm sure the marshal is a good man. I have nothing to fear; I'm just going to have to honor my word."
Delaney stood and with a false smile, she left the office, her head held high. She could do this. No matter what happened, she refused to show the man her vulnerability again.
Chapter Five
In the bar room once more, she met the marshal's eyes across the room and tipped her head towards the stairs. He tossed back the drink in his hand and set it back on the bar as he stood and came her way. His long legs ate up the distance between them and she'd only made it halfway up the staircase before he was there and called to her.
"Diamond, wait."
She hesitated only a moment, her eyes closing briefly as she thanked the good Lord for evidently guiding the marshal to let her off the hook before turning back to look down at him. Ready to pretend she was nowhere near as relieved as she truly was, she gave him the boldest most confident smile she could procure… until he spoke.
"The baths. We're going there first."
Then her false boldness was gone. She froze, but he was right there, taking her hand and guiding her back down the stairs.
A million thoughts went through her head between the stairs and the bathing room. The most prevalent was the lighting. He would see everything—she would see everything!
She'd seen naked men before, but never with their knowledge. It would be more odd if she hadn't, but she did work in a saloon with her room across the hall from the bathing room. Still, she couldn't imagine being so bold as the other gems when they were washing a man, or the opposite, him washing her. And what of the others? Sometimes there were more than one couple in the bathing room at the same time.
That fear at least was quelled when the marshal held the door open to her and then promptly locked it behind himself. They were alone in the room. She stood frozen, looking at the empty tubs in the center of the room.
"Go ahead and undress while I fill the tub." The man walked right by her. She couldn't believe he expected her to just disrobe. Then she remembered that though there was no concealing wall or even a curtain between the two tubs, there was a privacy screen in one corner. She forced herself not to run towards it though she was suddenly desperate to hide behind its concealment.
"Oh, no, ladybug. You will be naked before me, so there is no reason for you to hide yourself over there. You can just strip right where you are."
She glared at him as mortification filled every part of her being. He was bent on shaming her. This wasn't just some conquest or a prize won and savored. He meant to humiliate her. She turned away from him and her fingers came to the buttons at her neck with trepidation at first. Then slowly as she made it down the row, her irritation built until she stood tall and proud. She would not cower before him or allow herself to be shamed. She was a beautiful, independent woman. She would not let him know how much he affected her.
She stalled only a moment more before pulling her dress from her shoulders. It slid down her sides and landed in a puddle at her feet. Delaney felt naked already and she still had her chemise and petticoat before she even got to her… unmentionables. She peeked back at him as he carried one of the buckets of water that had been heating over the fire to the nearest iron tub. Heat flushed her face when she met his eyes. He was still watching her even though he was pouring the water.
"Keep going, I want you naked," he said, returning to the fire for the next pail.
Ignoring him, she bent to pick up her dress and walked over to the shelf by the door. She hung her dress on a hook and reached behind her for the laces of her petticoat, then hung it as well. Bending over, she unhooked the buttons of her boots and slipped them off, followed by her stockings. Folding them neatly, she placed them on an empty shelf. With only two items to go, she felt her insides twist… which one did she remove first? As humiliating as the memory was, remembering that she'd had her drawers lowered by Gabe, she faced the wall and pulled the ribbon at her waist, biting her lower lip as the fabric slid down her legs, stepping out of them and then bending to pick them up to fold. Even though the room was heated and moist, the air felt cool against her bare bottom. Her nipples pebbled hard under her chemise as she took another deep breath before lifting the thin material above her head. When the last of her coverings was gone, she stayed where she was, her back to the man, hiding her breasts behind her folded arm, her other hand pressing against the black curls of her sex.
"Hmmm, it looks like Gabe did tan your backside pretty well last night."
Her head shot up, at his words. Then she spun to the tall mirror standing in another corner to see what he could see. She was shocked—not by the small red areas from the spanking but the figure she was, her completely nude body reflected in the cheval mirror, the first man to ever see her in all her glory reflected behind her. Tripp was standing by the tub, his stare s
o intense, so… predatory it felt almost primal. Hunger, apparent in the set of his jaw as well as the way his eyes, said that he would eat her alive. Like she was the gazelle and he was a lion… the king of the jungle. King… she'd never again look at the face card in the same way. She couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her though she was far from cold.
"Come here. Don't cover yourself any longer. I want you over here where I can touch you, smell you, lick you… taste you." He held his hand out to her as one would to help a woman down from a carriage. "Move your hands. I want to see all of you."
Her feet were locked to the floor. She couldn't move if she wanted too… and she certainly didn't! Her mouth was as dry as the stage coach across the range had been when she'd come west in the middle of June.
"Come now. If you obey, I won't spank you. Your night will be nothing but pleasure, but if I have to tell you anything more than once, your pleasure will be the agonizing kind that hurts. Come to me, ladybug."
It was more than a little disconcerting that she was naked and he was fully dressed. She didn't like that at all. Finally, she was able to move her feet, and then she moved her hand from in front of her lady parts. It wasn't doing much to cover her anyway—but she left one arm covering her heavy breasts, her last vestige of dignity and she wouldn't relinquish it easily.
He took her free hand the moment she was in reach. If he realized she was still hiding, he didn't say anything. His other hand found her hip, his warm fingers gently gripping her and pulling her nearer to him, all the way until she could feel his belt buckle pressing against her tummy.
When his head dipped to her neck, she leaned her head away, opening herself up to his touch. His warm lips quickly seared her skin as he placed innocent kisses from just below her ear all the way down her collar bone. She shivered again, involuntarily. What was he doing to her? When he said "her full submission," she'd expected him to be rough and selfish.
Her arm fell away as he pulled her closer. Her breasts were hidden, pressed snuggly against his chest. When he stepped closer, her stance shifted and she grabbed hold of him to steady herself. She came up on her toes when his tongue traced the path his lips had just taken moments before.
"What are you doing to me, Marshal?" She had to lean back as his mouth ventured lower, grazing her breast.
"Tasting you." His voice was growl. "I want to taste all of you."
"Mmm…" A low moan rolled from her when he latched onto the tip of her nipple. This was not what she'd expected at all.
While he maintained the gripping, kneading fingers on her hip, the other hand slid up her back, over her shoulders to cup the back of her head. His heated lips trailed back up to her mouth. She opened for him when he pressed his lips to hers, first gently, then more firmly, claiming her with his mouth.
Something stirring deep within her, responded to his claim and she pressed her pelvis to his, grinding against the hardness greeting her there. She wanted him in a way she didn't understand. A whimper slid from her when he nipped at her lower lip, his teeth also laying claim to her. His hand in her hair gripped tightly, holding her locked against him—as if she wanted to be anywhere else. Every thought in her head said to cling to him. To open to him.
"Please…" she moaned.
Her single word plea had the reverse effect. Instead of giving her more of whatever it was her body hungered for, he pulled back. His mouth leaving her completely. She opened her eyes in confusion.
His dark pupils burned into her even though he stepped away. She stumbled briefly but he steadied her. Her legs were so shaky. What was happening to her?
"I'm not ready to take you like this. I want to slow down and savor every inch of you." He used his hand on hers to lead her to the tub. "Come. The water is getting cold."
When he led her to step into the tub, she finally got her wits back and protested. "I thought you were going to bathe—not me. You're not even undressed yet."
"In time. I want to wash you first."
Delaney sank down into the tub, thankful for the covering of the water although it did nothing to conserve her modesty. She hugged her knees to her chest, essentially hiding all of her front. She didn't look at his face when he dipped a washcloth into the tub. After lathering it up, he brought it to her back. It was warm and felt amazing against her skin. She couldn't remember someone else ever doing something so intimate. Now she craved more. When he dragged the cloth close around her side, she hesitantly waited and hoped he might continue, dragging it around her front. He made multiple trips up her spine and back down again. The massage left her feeling much more relaxed, but achy. She craved more of him and more attention to her most intimate places. She almost wished he'd go away. Yes, she was a virgin and yet she knew that if he weren't in the room, she'd allow her hand to drop, her fingers to go where they didn't belong… to relieve the ache that was insistently throbbing between her thighs.
"Sit back. Let me wash you. All of you." His words took her breath away. She hesitated, but finally relaxed back against the tub, exposing her breasts to his eyes again. "So beautiful. You are so beautiful, Diamond."
She sighed as he rubbed the cloth across her tummy. His words caressed her almost as much as the washcloth. She was tense and needy; she needed something more. He finally brought the cloth to her breasts, circling their fullness.
"You're driving me crazy, Marshal," she panted.
"Tripp," he corrected.
"Tripp…" She liked the sound of his name on her tongue. "Why are you toying with me? Wouldn't you prefer that I pleasure you?"
He continued to tease her. The washcloth only an agonizing vessel to travel her curves, but his fingers overlapped so they slid over the soap covering her nipples.
"No, I like this just fine so far. Besides, you can't imagine how much pleasure this brings me." He let the cloth slide free and continued to torture her, rolling her sensitive nipples between his fingers. She gasped at the bite when he pinched. "So responsive."
Delaney braced herself, refusing to press her aching breasts into his hands as her body begged. She forced her body to relax although it was tighter than a bowstring, every muscle drawn taught.
When he finally moved away from her nipples she sighed in relief, until he found the cloth again and rubbed it over her tummy, distinctly heading lower. She clenched her thighs tight together and only relaxed when he dragged the cloth down her legs, over her knees and all the way to her toes, where he lavished each one with infinite care. She refused to laugh when it tickled. She slowly relaxed under his care, until he started inching his way upward again. Her thighs were clamped together tightly, her knees bent to fit in the tub comfortably. She was completely unprepared for him to move the cloth down her thigh and around, under her knees toward her bottom, where her lady parts were tucked away. The moment the cloth touched her in that private area, she sat up fast, locking his hand in the crook behind her knee, and splashing both him and the floor.
"No, not there!" She was so out of breath. How long had she been holding it and hadn't realized?
His chuckle should have infuriated her, but left her more than relieved until he spoke. "I think it's time for me to join you, ladybug."
She sputtered, searching for words while he began to unbutton his shirt and then his belt buckle. "You won't fit. We won't fit…"
"Sure we will. This is a nice big tub. Besides, the parts of us that overlap will feel really nice." He winked at her with that wolfish grin. His boots and pants were quickly eliminated. The only care he gave to moving them aside was a short kick. She didn't look to see of they'd moved or where they'd ended up. She only had eyes for the long rod in his hand. She'd seen naked men but… but not like this. Where she'd taken furtive glances at a man before… in this very room in fact after inadvertently walking in on a miner as he stepped from the tub, all she'd seen was his manhood nestled in the black curls of his groin. The marshal's… Tripp's cock did not resemble the one she'd seen. No, Tripp's was thick and growing ever lon
ger as he stroked it while he stared at her. She swallowed hard imagining that part of him pressing into her womanly folds. The stories she'd heard from the other gems had to be lies. There was no possibility that her body could accept such a thing… it would never fit. She tried to tell him that, but no words would come out. "Scoot back and open your thighs. Put your legs out over the sides of the tub so I can sit down."
"You won't fit!" She most certainly would not spread her thighs like a hussy with him in front of her to see the parts of her she'd touched but had never seen herself. Her words could cover both topics, but he took it to mean in the tub with her.
He stepped over the side, standing in front of her with his proud member jutting out, pointed directly at her. She instantly scrambled backwards as far as she could but clamped her knees to her chest again, making herself as small as possible. Tripp sat down in front of her, his long legs folding against the side of the tub, feet pressing against the side of her hips. Then he reached for her knees.
"Come now. I'll remind you that I said if you were obedient you'd receive nothing but pleasure—but I won't be telling you everything twice. Now come closer. How will you wash me, sitting way over there?"
She came to rest on her knees, between his thighs when he took her wrists and pulled her toward him. Afraid he meant for her to come closer, she found the extra wash cloth and busied herself with sudsing it up. She was going to lean forward and wash his chest, but she didn't want to lean over his manhood. The only option between herself and his cock were his knees, so she made herself busy with them. It didn't take long for him to grow weary of that.
"Well, now that I have the cleanest knees this side of the Mississippi, can you come wash my chest, maybe?" His tone was good-humored although still husky and hungry, and his eyes downright devoured her.
She had no choice left but to scoot closer and give him a good rub. She was fascinated with each bump and groove of his muscles, from his chest down over his taut stomach. She'd certainly seen a man's naked chest before but never with such detail or the ability to touch. And touching added a whole new dimension. She struggled to remain aloof when she wanted very much to trace her fingertip around his nipple. When she moved the cloth over his stomach he sucked in a hard deep breath.
